Presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte’s assumption of the highest post in the land does not mean the cases filed against him would no longer be investigated by the anti-graft body.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Thursday said they will continue to investigate the plunder and malversation complaint that defeated vice presidential candidate Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed against the outgoing Davao City mayor over 11,000 alleged ghost employees in his city.
“Well, if the complaint is meritorious…Under the law, the Ombudsman will still continue investigating an impeachable officer only for the purpose of determining whether gross or grave misconduct has been committed,” Morales said in a press conference at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City.
“If in the affirmative, then the Office of the Ombudsman will forward its findings to the Congress for it to consider initiating impeachment proceedings,” Morales said.
A sitting President enjoys immunity from any criminal or administrative lawsuit.
READ: Morales echoes Duterte: Ombudsman’s job to prosecute Aquino,Binay
Ties with Dutertes
Asked how she was related to the soon-to-be presidential family, Morales revealed that the father of the husband of Duterte’s daughter, newly-proclaimed Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, is her brother.
“The husband of Sara, Atty. Mans Carpio is the son of my brother Atty. Lucas Carpio and his wife Court of Appeals Associate Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpio, In other words, he (Duterte) is the ‘balae’ of my brother,” Morales said.
Despite her ties with the Dutertes, Morales maintained that the Office of the Ombusman will remain an independent office.
“So without or with the support of the President, the office will discharge its mandate. I think relationship is not a factor in the disposition of cases or in the investigation of cases,” she said.
Despite having said that her relationship with the family would not affect the cases involving them, Morales said that she had inhibited herself from the complaints against the Dutertes.
“Even before he became a presumptive President-elect, I have already inhibited in the cases involving them,” she said. CDG/rga